press releases
Cybrexa Therapeutics Announces CBX-12 as Lead Development Program
New Haven, Conn., January 9, 2020 – Cybrexa Therapeutics, an oncology-focused biotechnology company developing a new class of therapeutics through its alphalex™ tumor targeting platform, today announced CBX-12 (alphalexTM-exatecan) as the new lead development program. CBX-12 is an alphalexTM conjugate that includes the highly potent topoisomerase I inhibitor exatecan.
CBX-12 has demonstrated strong efficacy and a solid safety profile in preclinical studies. CBX-12 leverages the same class of payload used in the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) ENHERTU® (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki), which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under Accelerated Approval in unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Like ENHERTU®, CBX-12 delivers a highly potent topoisomerase I payload, but CBX-12 targets tumors without the need for a specific antigen and therefore has the potential to address a much broader patient population. CBX-12 has potential synergy with PD-1 inhibitors and other immuno-oncology drugs. Cybrexa plans to publish preclinical data for CBX-12 in the first half of 2020 and to advance the program into the clinic in 2021.
Per Hellsund, President and CEO of Cybrexa said, “CBX-12 has tremendous potential to change the treatment paradigm in multiple solid tumors, which remain hard to treat. We are committed to moving this program rapidly into the clinic, and ultimately benefit as many patients as possible. We look forward to reporting on CBX-12’s progress at upcoming high-profile medical conferences in 2020.”
Chief Scientific Officer Vishwas Paralkar, PhD, added, “The CBX-12 program has shown outstanding results in preclinical studies and showcases the potential and opportunity for the alphalexTM platform. We continue to make good progress with our other programs in the preclinical pipeline and look forward to advancing those candidates as we work to provide treatments to as many patients as possible.”
About the alphalex™ Technology Platform
The Cybrexa alphalex™ technology platform – which consists of a pHLIP® peptide, linker, and small molecule anti-cancer agent (payload) – enables antigen-independent targeting of tumors and intracellular delivery of highly potent anticancer therapies, creating therapeutics that can revolutionize the standard of care. pHLIP® peptides are a family of pH-Low Insertion Peptides that target acidic cell surfaces. pHLIP® was developed at Yale University and the University of Rhode Island, and is exclusively licensed to pHLIP, Inc. alphalex™ represents the disruptive next generation in tumor targeting. View a video of the mechanism of action of the technology at www.cybrexa.com.
About Cybrexa
Cybrexa is a privately-held biotechnology company dedicated to developing next-generation tumor-targeted cancer therapies using its alphalex™ platform. The Company’s lead candidate, CBX-12, an alphalex™-exatecan conjugate, is expected to enter Phase I in 2021 in advanced solid tumors. Cybrexa also has other preclinical toxin conjugate programs as well as synthetic lethality programs. Cybrexa was founded by physician-scientists and has an experienced management team that has built numerous successful life sciences companies. For more information about Cybrexa, please visit www.cybrexa.com.
Media Contact
Amanda Johnson
Phone: 202.930.4762 x407
Email: [email protected]
Cybrexa Therapeutics Announces Expansion of its Anticancer Pipeline
New Haven, Conn., December 9, 2019 – Cybrexa Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a new class of cancer therapeutics through its alphalex™ tumor targeting platform, today announced that the Company is expanding the application of its proprietary alphalex™ platform to include toxin conjugates and additional next generation synthetic lethality targets.
Two of Cybrexa’s new preclinical pipeline programs include CBX-12 (alphalexTM-exatecan) and CBX-13 (alphalexTM-DM4). Both exatecan and DM4 are highly toxic to cells and require targeted delivery to be used as cancer therapies, making them prime opportunities for the alphalexTM platform. Both programs are expected to have efficacy across a variety of solid tumors. Preclinical work is ongoing, with publication of initial data expected by mid-2020.
Per Hellsund, President and CEO of Cybrexa said, “We are excited to broaden the application of our alphalexTM technology platform to expand our pipeline. We have made rapid progress with our new programs and believe these agents could be transformative both in patient populations where few treatment options or remaining unmet needs exist. We look forward to continuing to explore new applications of alphalexTM to bring benefits to patients.”
Scientific Co-founder Peter Glazer, MD, PhD, commented on CBX-12, “Our early preclinical data shows very impressive efficacy in mouse tumor models with essentially no toxicity, quite unlike the situation that you see with the free molecule [exatecan]. We believe that this will provide the needed therapeutic index to apply the Cybrexa technology with exatecan to a variety of human solid tumors.”
About the alphalex™ Technology Platform
The Cybrexa alphalex™ technology platform – which consists of a pHLIP® peptide, linker, and small molecule anti-cancer agent – allows for antigen-independent, intracellular delivery of small molecule anti-cancer agents. pHLIP® peptides are a family of pH-Low Insertion Peptides that target acidic cell surfaces. pHLIP® was developed at Yale University and the University of Rhode Island, and is exclusively licensed to pHLIP, Inc. View a video of the mechanism of action of the technology at www.cybrexa.com.
About Cybrexa
Cybrexa is a privately-held biotechnology company dedicated to developing an entirely new class of tumor-targeted cancer therapies using its alphalex™ platform. The Company’s lead candidate, CBX-11, an alphalex™-PARP inhibitor conjugate, is expected to enter Phase I in 2020 in advanced solid tumors. Cybrexa also has preclinical programs focused on next-generation synthetic lethality targets and toxin conjugates. Cybrexa was founded by physician-scientists and has an experienced management team that has built numerous successful life sciences companies and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. For more information about Cybrexa, please visit www.cybrexa.com.
Media Contact
Amanda Johnson
Phone: 202.930.4762 x407
Email: [email protected]
Cybrexa Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Biotech Industry Leader John Houston…
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Cybrexa Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Biotech Industry Leader John Houston to Board of Directors
John Houston brings more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development in pharma and biotech as Cybrexa prepares to transition to become a clinical-stage company
New Haven, Conn., September 3, 2019 – Cybrexa Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a new class of cancer therapeutics through its alphalex™ tumor-targeting platform, today announced the appointment of John Houston, PhD, to its board of directors. Dr. Houston brings more than 30 years of biotech and pharma drug development and management experience, including serving as the current CEO of Arvinas, Inc., a publicly traded targeted protein degradation biotech with programs in Oncology and Neuroscience.
“John has established an incredible reputation and track record in leading companies to successfully and quickly bring innovative drugs to patients,” said Per Hellsund, President and CEO of Cybrexa. “We are delighted that John will be joining the Cybrexa board at this point in time. Cybrexa is on the cusp of entering the clinic with our lead candidate, CBX-11 (alphalexTM-rucaparib), and substantially expanding our pipeline. John’s experience in oncology and guiding companies through the transition from preclinical- to clinical-stage and private to public will be extremely valuable as Cybrexa continues to grow.”
Dr. Houston is President and Chief Executive Officer of Arvinas, Inc. Previously, he was the SVP of Specialty Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). He spent more than 18 years at BMS in roles of increasing responsibility and had accountability for all Discovery Biology disease teams as well as various Discovery technology departments. He was also the site head of the BMS Connecticut facility. Dr. Houston was a member of the BMS R&D Executive Leadership team and chaired the Target Portfolio Committee which had governance oversight in the discovery space. With his teams and research colleagues, he progressed over 200 compounds into early development, several of which advanced into late stage clinical trials, and toward commercialization. Dr. Houston has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, he worked at Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development in the UK, where he served as head of the Lead Discovery Unit.
Dr. Houston obtained his B.Sc degree in Medical Microbiology from Glasgow University and obtained his Ph.D. with Professor Brian Catley in Microbial Biochemistry from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He also completed his post-doctoral studies on an MRC grant with Professor Julia Douglas at Glasgow University.
“I believe Cybrexa’s alphalexTM technology platform has tremendous potential to efficiently bring new treatment options to patients by leveraging already identified anti-cancer agents that have prohibitive toxicity profiles but promising potential efficacy” said Dr. Houston. “I am excited to be joining the Cybrexa board and look forward to working with the leadership team to provide my insights about the further development of CBX-11 and other alphalex-conjugates for cancer patients with high unmet need”
About the alphalex™ Technology Platform
The Cybrexa alphalex™ technology platform enables the delivery of small molecules across the cell membrane under low pH conditions, which is a universal feature of cancer cells. As a result, alphalex™ technology – which consists of a novel peptide, linker and small molecule anti-cancer agent – allows for antigen-independent, intracellular delivery of small molecule anti-cancer agents directly into the tumor cell. View a video of the mechanism of action of the technology at www.cybrexa.com.
About Cybrexa
Cybrexa is a privately-held biotechnology company dedicated to developing an entirely new class of cancer therapies using its alphalex™ platform to deliver anti-cancer agents directly into tumor cells. The Company’s lead candidate, CBX-11, an alphalex™-PARP inhibitor combination, is in preclinical development with advancing plans to initiate clinical development. Cybrexa was founded by physician-scientists, and has an experienced management team that has built numerous successful life sciences companies and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. For more information about Cybrexa, please visit www.cybrexa.com.
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